Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG

Thousands of unvaccinated children enter schools

2008-08-28T15:24:06Z

Wed, 08/27/2008 - 15:53. By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service. Hundreds of thousands of children are going to school this fall without protection from deadly diseases. More parents are deciding not to vaccinate their children against mumps, measles, rubella, polio and other dangerous diseases. The parents are refusing to vaccinate because of concerns that the vaccinations themselves are harmful, or because of the growing cost and complexity of getting the shots. Comment: The Harm done by ignorant activists seems to make raise few concerns!

California Tobacco Control Program Saved Billions In Medical Costs

2008-08-27T15:44:02Z

ScienceDaily — California's state tobacco control program saved $86 billion -- in 2004 dollars -- in personal healthcare costs in its first 15 years, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. California’s state tobacco control program saved $86 billion--in 2004 dollars--in personal healthcare costs in its first 15 years, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. During the same period, the state spent only a total of $1.8 billion on the program, a 50-to-1 return on investment, according to study findings. The study is the first that has been able to quantifiably connect tobacco control to healthcare savings, say its authors.

Researchers call media coverage of monthly breast self-examination "misleading."

2008-08-27T15:39:21Z

Medscape reported that "for decades, women have been urged to perform a monthly breast self-examination (BSE), but recently, an increasing number of organizations have backed away from recommending routine self-exams." Several "studies evaluating the benefit of BSE have shown decidedly mixed results and, last month, a flurry of media stories reported on a Cochrane analysis that showed that BSE does not improve breast cancer survival and might, in fact, cause harm." But, "Mark Kane Goldstein, Ph.D., and H.S. Pennypacker, Ph.D., both members of the...research team that identified and validated the standards for proficient breast examination, with the support of the National Cancer Institute, pointed out in a detailed response that the media coverage was misleading, contained a number of errors, and omitted critical information."

Largest Study of Its Kind Implicates Gene Abnormalities in Bipolar Disorder

2008-08-25T16:08:13Z

Researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, found an association between the disorder and variation in two genes that make components of channels that manage the flow of the elements into and out of cells, including neurons. "A neuron’s excitability — whether it will fire — hinges on this delicate equilibrium, "explained Pamela Sklar, M.D., Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who led the research. "Finding statistically robust associations linked to two proteins that may be involved in regulating such ion channels — and that are also thought to be targets of drugs used to clinically to treat bipolar disorder — is astonishing."

79 Million US Adults Have Medical Bill Problems Or Are Paying Off Medical Debt

2008-08-25T16:01:31Z

A new study issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured finds that the uninsured will spend $30 billion out-of-pocket for health care in 2008 while receiving $56 billion in uncompensated care, three quarters of which will be from government sources. These findings were published in a web-exclusive article in Health Affairs today.

Low level cadmium exposure linked to lung disease

2008-08-21T16:15:12Z

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—New research suggests that cadmium is one of the critical ingredients causing emphysema, and even low-level exposure attained through second-hand smoke and other means may also increase the chance of developing lung disease. The University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests that higher cadmium levels in the body as much as double the risk of developing a pulmonary disease diagnosis such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis. "The study suggests that the critical ingredient in smoking that may be causing emphysema is cadmium, a well-known contaminant of cigarette smoke," said Howard Hu, professor at the U-M School of Public Health and principal investigator in the study. "The worry is if you are exposed to this (cadmium) through other sources you can also be at risk for emphysema." Non-smokers are exposed to cadmium when they eat contaminated foods or inhale second-hand smoke, as well as through a host of occupational exposures. Cadmium is a metal that is difficult for the body to dispel, Hu said, because kidneys tend to retain cadmium, and it recycles into the body.

Chronic Lead Poisoning From Urban Soils

2008-08-21T16:10:38Z

ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2008) — Chronic lead poisoning, caused in part by the ingestion of contaminated dirt, affects hundreds of thousands more children in the United States than the acute lead poisoning associated with imported toys or jewelry. Could treating contaminated soil with water prevent this public health scourge? In a study appearing in the August issue of the journal Applied Geochemistry, Gabriel M. Filippelli, Ph.D., professor of earth sciences conducted a literature review of studies of urban soils as a persistent source of lead poisoning and also investigated the lead burden in the soils from a number of cities, including Indianapolis. His findings reveal that older cities like Indianapolis have a very high lead burden resulting in a lead poisoning epidemic among their youngest citizens. Comment: The home environment causing lead poisoning is nothing new. #) years ago studies near the I 95 beltway in the region of the Pentagon showed contaminated soil from tetraethyl;l lead, and associated poisoning among children. This study was one of many that lead to the banning of lead in gasoline. There is also the problem of lead paint flaking from houses into the soil, that is well known in urban housing. While the idea of protecting children from soil is useful, it is more important to ensure that lead paint in housing is either removed or protected using rental codes. This has been well demonstrated for more than 40 years, but the realty industry has fought protection of children, usually low income renters, who have little power to protect themselves.

Arsenic in the US Water Supply Linked to Diabetes?

2008-08-20T15:52:50Z

A study reported in this week's JAMA suggested that ``stemming the pandemic of type 2 diabetes is a public health priority and will require a multi-faceted approach,'' wrote Molly Kile and David Christiani, Comment: The evidence is not terribly good. The data is from a crossectional study which can demonstrate association but NOT causality. No background data on exposures is provided, only data on blood levels that provide no evidence of length of exposures and whether arsenic exposure preceded onset of diabetes.

Many Hispanics may lack regular healthcare provider.

2008-08-14T15:44:33Z

25 percent of Hispanics in the United States don't have a regular healthcare provider to treat their medical needs," according to a survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. over "one in four Hispanic adults in the U.S....report obtaining no healthcare information from medical professionals in the previous year." Meanwhile, almost "80 percent said they act on the information they receive from media sources." Comment: The most telling point in the study was that 36 percent of males and 37 percent of individuals ages 18 to 29 lack[ing] a usual source of care. Hispanics have similar problems to other minority groups with lack of financial access to both insurance and primary care However, just providing financial access as recommended by both political parties will make little difference without a significant increase in access to a regular source of primary care, which neither party is addressing. Also, many of those without a usual source of care are young and without disease.

Report says U.S. faces serious shortage of primary-care professionals.

2008-08-13T14:52:55Z

The United States faces a serious shortage of family physicians, especially in rural and poorer communities," according to a report released on Monday by the National Association of Community Health Centers. The group noted that "[t]here are too few primary-care doctors and nurses to meet growing healthcare needs," and "availability depends on location." The data showed that "56 million Americans do not have a regular source of healthcare due to shortages of physicians in their communities," although many of these people have health insurance. In fact, some healthcare experts say that "even if universal healthcare comes into play tomorrow, not everyone would have access to a healthcare provider." The report's authors "estimate that in order to provide services to these medically disenfranchised Americans, as well as current patients, health centers will need up to 60,000 more primary-care professionals, and up to 44,500 additional nurses."

Organic Food Has No More Nutritional Value

2008-08-11T15:36:48Z

From Sciencedaily new research in the latest issue of the Society of Chemical Industry’s (SCI) Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows there is no evidence to support the argument that organic food is better than food grown with the use of pesticides and chemicals. Many people pay more than a third more for organic food in the belief that it has more nutritional content than food grown with pesticides and chemicals. But the research by Dr Susanne Bügel and colleagues from the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, shows there is no clear evidence to back this up. Comment: No surprise here as there is little biological plausibility for the belief among food extremists that "Organic' food is better than that grown with standard agricultural practices. You just pay more. As PT Barnum said about suckers. "there is one born every minute."

Not Only Surgeons Do It.

2008-08-11T14:44:01Z

60 years ago when in medical school I and my fellow students, along with the audience laughed ourselves sick at Roger Livsey (in the movie Dr. in The House) act as a swearing ,scalpel throwing surgeon at the 'Radcliffe' Infirmary in Oxford, particularly those of us training in London. Now, at last, according to the Boston Globe, the Joint Commission (JC), the national group that accredits healthcare organizations, "is requiring all hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities to adopt 'zero-tolerance' policies by Jan. 1, including codes of conduct, ways to encourage staff to report bad behavior, and a process for helping and, if necessary, disciplining offenders." An increasing amount of "research suggest[s] that swearing, yelling, and throwing objects are not just rude and offensive to co-workers, but hurt patients by increasing the likelihood of medical errors."

The School Bully: Does It Run In The Family?

2008-08-06T16:10:03Z

New research links family relationships to childhood bullying. Elizabeth Sweeney, a University of Cincinnati master’s degree student in sociology, presented her findings Aug. 3 at the 103rd annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Sweeney says her review of the literature found that children raised by authoritarian parents – parents who are demanding, directive and unresponsive – are the most prone to act out bullying behavior. On the other hand, there were parallels showing that children raised by nurturing, warm, responsive parents were less likely to bully.

FDA approves six vaccines for the 2008-09 influenza season.

2008-08-06T14:39:12Z

A wonderful example of how to confuse people. .Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved six influenza vaccines intended to target strains that "are likely to cause flu in the United States" during the 2008-09 season. Agency officials explained that every year, the "vaccines are modified to reflect the virus strains most likely to be circulating," and the "closer the match between the circulating strains and the strains in the vaccines, the better the protection." Last year's flu vaccine didn't match two of three main types of flu that sickened people. Still, the "vaccination remains the cornerstone of preventing influenza. Comment: The problem is that the flu virus mutates so rapidly, and dispersion is so simple (with air travel) that it is very difficult to predict what strain will be dominant in the US each fall. It still takes so long to identify and prepare a new targeted vaccine that we will have to wait for improved technology before a real annual match tor currently circulating strains can be developed..

Who should Teach Health & Sex Education?

2008-08-05T16:05:38Z

A new study from researchers at Ohio State University and the University of Kentucky found that high school students students may be more inclined to learn life-changing behaviors from someone they know and trust. “The actual person teaching makes a difference in how students learn. When there is a good relationship, that really facilitates learning and motivation. And we found that in almost every area, the regular classroom teachers were more effective, they were better,” said Eric Anderman, co-author of the study and professor of educational psychology at Ohio State. Better training of teachers may be more productive than bringing in outside experts.
[Ohio State University (2008, August 5). Teacher-student Relationships Key To Learning Health And Sex Education. ScienceDaily.]